Activity Introduction
Quick Summary: This lesson incorporates clips from Blue The Film as learning inspiration. In this lesson, students will examine news media texts that highlight issues related to coral bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef in certain ways to position audiences. They will enhance their understanding of how media texts use language, visual and structural features to represent issues. With a specific focus on news media texts, students will use thinking and analytical tools to deconstruct and evaluate perspectives represented and analyse how language and visual features influences audiences.
Blue is a feature documentary film charting the drastic decline in the health of our oceans. With more than half of all marine life lost and the expansion of the industrialization of the seas, the film sets out the challenges we are facing and the opportunities for positive change. Blue changes the way we think about our liquid world and inspires the audience to action. Find out how to screen or download the film here. Along with the film is an ambitious global campaign to create advocacy and behaviour change through the #oceanguardian movement. To become an ocean guardian, see the website.
Learning intentions:
- Students will understand how combinations of language and visual features of news media texts shape meaning and position audiences.
- Students will understand and explain how news media texts use written and visual language to influence perspectives.
- Students will develop the skills required to compare and understand how different media texts represent issues to elicit responses from audiences.
21st century skills:
Australian Curriculum Mapping
Content descriptions:
Year 10 English
- Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749)
- Evaluate the impact on audiences of different choices in the representation of still and moving images (ACELA1572)
- Compare the purposes, text structures and language features of traditional and contemporary texts in different media (ACELA1566)
Syllabus outcomes: EN5-1A, EN5-6C, EN5-8D
General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking.
Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability.
Relevant parts of Year 10 English achievement standards: Students evaluate how text structures can be used in innovative ways by different authors. They explain how the choice of language features, images and vocabulary contributes to the development of individual style. Students listen for ways features within texts can be manipulated to achieve particular effects.They explain different viewpoints, attitudes and perspectives through the development of cohesive and logical arguments.
Topic: Blue The Film, Ocean Conservation, Water, Sustainability.
Unit of work: Blue The Film – English – Year 9&10.
Time required: 120 mins.
Level of teacher scaffolding: High – facilitate class discussion and assess student work.
Resources required: Student Worksheet – one per student. Device capable of presenting a website to the class. Coral Reefs Factsheet (optional). Rhetorical Devices Factsheet (optional). Persuasive Language Factsheet (optional). News article – Coral crisis: the Great Barrier Reef needs us to speak up – Peter Hannam – 23/3/2017 (one per student; found online here or through your school library).
Keywords: Blue The Film, ocean conservation, marine ecosystems.
Cool Australia and Northern Pictures would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of GoodPitch² Australia, Shark Island Institute, Documentary Australia Foundation, The Caledonia Foundation and Screen Australia in the development of these teaching resources.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.
© 2017 Northern Pictures and Cool Australia
Teacher preparation
